Release OrderRecommended
0 / 4 playedThe order the games came out, and the recommended play order.
- 1 Perfect Dark The Nintendo 64 original, Joanna's first mission against dataDyne.
- 2 Perfect Dark (Game Boy Color) Top-down prequel starring Joanna, once linkable to the N64 game via Transfer Pak.
- 3 Perfect Dark Zero Xbox 360 prequel set in 2020, starring a younger Joanna before she earns her Perfect Dark rank.
- 4 Perfect Dark (Remaster) Xbox 360 remaster of the 2000 game, also included in Rare Replay.
Chronological Order
0 / 3 playedThe in-story order, best saved for a second run after release order.
- 1 Perfect Dark Zero Set in 2020, the earliest point in the timeline.
- 2 Perfect Dark (Game Boy Color) Set in 2022, between Zero and the N64 game.
- 3 Perfect Dark Set in 2023, closes the story.
About Perfect Dark
Perfect Dark is Rare's sci-fi spy shooter series starring Carrington Institute agent Joanna Dark, and its play order is short: the Nintendo 64 original (2000), the Game Boy Color prequel (2000), the Xbox 360 prequel Perfect Dark Zero (2005), and the 2010 remaster of the first game. Release order is the recommended play order, since Zero was built for players who already know Joanna, while the second list below reorders the same games chronologically.
Good to know
The 2010 Xbox 360 remaster is the simplest way to play the original today, and both it and Zero are included in Rare Replay. The reboot announced in 2020 was cancelled in July 2025 when Microsoft closed The Initiative, and revival talks with Take-Two fell through that September, so nothing new is in development.
